Like most horror flicks, 2018’s The Nun didn’t dazzle at the box office. However, with a $22 million budget, it generated massive return on investment via its $366 million worldwide gross.

Thus the inevitable sequel: 2023’s The Nun II. Given a $268 million gross on a $38 million budget, it proved less profitable than its predecessor, but I feel certain that this still-strong return means we’ll get The Nun III at some point.

Four years after the first film’s events, we visit Tarascon France circa 1956. During his daily rounds, Father Noiret (Pascal Aubert) mysteriously raises into the air, catches fire and burns to death.

Unsurprisingly, this creates concern. Novitiate Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) dealt with a demonic force previously, so she comes to Tarascon to fight evil once again.

“Religious figure travels to confront supernatural evil” offers a concept that dates back many years. I won’t claim to know the first movies that explored the notion, but I suspect 1973’s classic The Exorcist offers the most famous example of the genre.

Over the past 50 years, moviegoers found innumerable efforts in this domain. Nun II just becomes another in that long chain.

The 2018 Nun actually offered a spinoff from the Conjuring series. Those also gave us movies in which the main characters visited various domains to investigate evil.

Given the well-worn nature of the genre, the question becomes whether or not Nun II finds anything fresh to say – or at least manages reasonable scares. In my opinion… not really.

Because I felt the 2018 Nun created a dull stab at horror, I can’t claim the uninspiring nature of the sequel comes as a surprise. Nonetheless, the basic premise offers promise, so the filmmakers’ inability to do anything interesting with the end product makes it a letdown.

Sometimes I feel like the proverbial broken record when I discuss modern horror movies, as I tend to find the same flaws. Too many of these films come light on real terror and rely on cheap “jump scares” to get a reaction from the audience.

That becomes the case with Nun II. It traffics in standard tropes and struggles to find a personality of its own.

This means we wind up with many shots of characters who meander into dark/gloomy settings. After seemingly interminable attempts to build tension, the inevitable “jolt moments” emerge.

None of this works to create actual scares or drama. The “lather, rinse, repeat” nature of the framework just makes the whole enterprise tiresome before long.

It doesn’t help that Nun II fails to develop interesting characters. A new role – American novice Sister Debra (Storm Reid) – offers some intrigue due to her backstory.

However, the film does little to explore this topic and Sister Irene also doesn’t proceed down any compelling paths. Instead, the nuns just remain pawns in the overall plot.

If we really consider that Nun II has a plot. The movie really feels more like a collection of creepy boo scenes cobbled together around a loose narrative than anything more concise.

Nun II offers a professional production and I could point out worse horror movies. Nonetheless, it lacks inspiration and ends up as a slow, uncompelling attempt at a frightfest.

Footnote: a brief tag scene that ties to the Conjuring films appears early in the end credits.

The Nun II appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Expect a strong presentation here.

Sharpness usually satisfied. With a plethora of low-light shots, some softness crept into interiors, but the majority of the movie came with appealing accuracy.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I witnessed no edge haloes. Print flaws remained absent.

Colors leaned toward an amber tone, with a lot of the usual teal and splashes of reds as well. The hues felt well-rendered, with a good boost from HDR.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, while shadows felt smooth and clear. HDR brought extra emphasis to whites and contrast. This turned into a good reproduction of the film.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, I also felt positive about the pretty good Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Nun II. Given the nature of the story, moody environmental information dominated the mix.

These elements filled out the speakers in an involving manner. The movie didn’t become a constant whiz-bang soundfield, but it created a nice sense of place.

The more active “scare moments” used the spectrum in the most dynamic manner, but they failed to appear on a frequent basis. Instead, music and creepy ambience became the most prominent components.

Audio quality was fine. Speech seemed natural and concise. Effects depicted the elements with acceptable accuracy and boasted pleasing low-end when necessary.

Music showed positive clarity and range, and they also packed solid bass response at times. This was a perfectly positive mix for the material.

Two featurettes appear here, and Demon in Paradise goes for five minutes, four seconds. It brings notes from producer James Wan, director Michael Chaves, production designer Stephane Cressend, costume designer Agnes Beziers, and actors Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Storm Reid, Anna Popplewell and Aaron-Jon North.

“Demon” examines story/characters as well as sets and locations. Some useful insights emerge but a lot of the piece exists to promote the film.

Handcrafted Nightmares spans seven minutes, two seconds. It involves Chaves, Farmiga, North, visual effects producer Sophie LeClerc, and actor Katelyn Rose Downey.

“Nightmares” discusses to design of the title character along with other supernatural elements. It delivers another mix of facts and fluff.

By the way, although Chaves thinks the Nun looks like Dracula or Nosferatu, I disagree. Instead, she becomes a dead ringer for Marilyn Manson.

If you go into The Nun II with expectations of a creative horror tale, you will encounter disappointment. The movie offers a stagnant effort with no tension, drama or fright on display. The 4K UHD offers very good picture and audio but it skimps on bonus materials. Perhaps franchise fans will find something to like here, but I can’t discern much to make Nun II entertaining.